Mated To The Barbarian King Who Is My Ex-husband's Father.

Arianna took a few shallow, rapid breaths as she set the other book down on the table and turned to face him. Kane sat casually on the edge of the bed, his dark eyes fixed unapologetically on her every move.

​"I am waiting, Queen Arianna," he said, a slow smile playing on his lips.

​"Why did you choose this one?"

​"My wolf wanted it."

​Her brows furrowed in utter confusion, her lips twisting. His wolf? How did that even work?

​"You don’t know?"

​"No... I am completely confused," she answered, instinctively clutching the book tightly to her chest. "Can you actually talk to your wolf?"

​He nodded, silently tracking the shocked expression on her face. It made him want to laugh out loud, but he held it back.

​"I can’t believe this," Arianna whispered in disbelief. "What else is it that you have?"

​"Many things, if you dare to know."

​The words sounded far more dangerous than he let on. She swallowed hard, staring down at the bare floor for a moment before looking back up at him.

​Lately, it seemed he took immense pleasure in teasing her. Forcing herself to focus, Arianna opened the book in her hands. She skipped the very first page because it was just the table of contents, but then she accidentally flipped about thirteen pages at once, realizing she had gone much too far.

​Just as she was about to turn back to the beginning, his voice stopped her.

​"You can start from there," the king told her.

​"W-what?" She couldn’t believe her eyes as she stared down at the open page. Out of the entire manual, she had landed directly on the most explicit and graphic part of the book.

​Arianna wondered if his wolf could actually see everything she did, including the pages of the book. "Where do I even start?" A soft, nervous chuckle escaped her mouth as she looked up.

​"Anywhere, my queen," he urged, a playful glint in his eye. "Since when have you grown so shy?"

​"Shy? I am not shy."

​"I think you are. See..." He pointed a finger at her. "You can’t even look at me properly."

​Arianna shook her head, forcing her eyes up to meet his gaze directly. "I am not shy, Kane. I’ve just been wondering what you plan to do with all of this knowledge when you and I both know you won’t be able to explore it."

​She instantly wished she hadn’t let the words slip out so bluntly, but she hoped it would be enough to make him change his mind about this reading session.

​"Who told you I won’t explore it? My curse is not forever, Arianna," Kane told her. To her absolute surprise, he didn’t seem the slightest bit angered by her reminder. "Soon, I will find my mate, and she will break it."

​His words stung, though she couldn’t understand why. A bystander might think she didn’t want him to get rid of his curse, but that was far from the truth.

It was just that the day he found his true mate would be the exact day she would have to pack her things and leave his life forever.

Arianna should have been thrilled by the prospect of her eventual freedom, so why was she feeling the exact opposite?

​"Are you okay?" Kane asked, his playful demeanor shifting into a worried look. He patted the mattress beside him. "Come and sit down."

​She did as she was told, moving across the tent to sit on the edge of the bed. Arianna quietly studied his face for a minute, wondering how he was able to smile so easily while carrying such a dark, heavy burden. How had he managed to survive through it all without letting the curse entirely define him?

​"You have something on your mind, Queen Arianna. Let it out."

​"Of course, I do," Arianna said, setting the book aside. There was a far more serious matter to discuss now. "This curse... how did you end up with it? What did you do to deserve such a thing?"

​Kane took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. No one had ever bothered to ask him about the truth before.

Everyone else simply fed on the wild rumors whispered about him, but here she was, wanting to hear it directly from his lips.

But why? Could it be that she really meant it when she told him she loved him this morning? Did she actually care?

​"It’s okay, Kane," she murmured, gently placing her hand over his and offering a reassuring smile. "You can tell me. I am not going to judge you, I promise."

​"I know," he nodded, looking down at her hand. "I was cursed before I was even born."

​Arianna’s lips parted in shock as she stared at him. Before birth? That meant he had carried this darkness for his entire life.

​"The high priest said my grandfather disobeyed the sacred will of the Moon Goddess," Kane explained, his voice tight. "She cursed his bloodline through me, ensuring that his lineage would end."

​"But what about your father?"

​"He had already been born at that time, so the curse skipped him and shifted to me." Kane shook his head, a flicker of old pain crossing his features. "When I was born, my father wanted to kill me so I wouldn’t have to live with such a terrible burden. But my mother refused to let him. She went to the Moon Goddess herself and begged to exchange two lives so that my curse could eventually be broken."

​Arianna fought to hide the sudden wave of disappointment she felt toward Kane’s mother. How could a mother exchange innocent lives just to save her own son? It felt incredibly unfair to whoever those poor souls were.

​"I can tell your mind is racing right now," Kane chuckled softly, reading the conflict on her face. "The Moon Goddess agreed to the bargain, decreeing that the curse could only be broken once I found my true mate. Do you know who sacrificed their lives so I could have that chance?"

​She shook her head, completely gripped by the mystery.

​"My parents."

​​"W-what?" Her hand flew to her mouth. She hadn’t been expecting such a tragic twist. At first, she had silently blamed his mother without knowing the full story. "I-I am so sorry, Kane... I didn’t know."

​"Many people don’t," Kane said quietly, gently pulling his hand away from hers. He tried to distance himself from the emotion that always threatened to surface whenever he spoke of his past. "I lost my aunts and uncles after that. One by one, they either died or abandoned the pack because of me. Aunt Freya is the only one who stuck by my side all these years. I was just a child when it all happened, and she took good care of me."

​Arianna finally understood why he was always so quick to forgive Freya for her bitter behavior. She had been his sole anchor. "I never knew. Aunt Freya must have been just like a mother to you then."

​"Yes. And Samantha and Ragnar are the closest things to siblings I’ve ever had."

​"I am so sorry you had to go through all of that, but it is none of your fault," she said, her heart aching for him. "You said earlier that it was your fault they all died and left, but that isn’t true, Kane."

​"Then whose fault was it?" he asked, his brow furrowing as he looked deeply into her eyes.

​Arianna had no idea how to answer that. She just stared back at him, desperately hoping to come up with a topic change, when a voice from outside the tent saved her. It belonged to Cassius.

​"Go ahead and speak, Cassius," the king called out, standing up from the edge of the bed.

​"It is your aunt, Your Grace. She has fallen terribly ill," the warrior announced from beyond the tent flap.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!